The collaboration between the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) and Catalyst Consulting is a fine example of collaborative partnership. Our combined effort, the “One IWA Programme,” sought to address the intricate challenges faced by the IWA community, aiming to bring about tangible, lasting change. This initiative has earned a nomination for the Learning in Excellence Awards this September.

The Essence of the One IWA Programme:

The programme was a meticulous endeavour to understand and address the challenges and opportunities faced by the IWA community. Through a series of online workshops, facilitators and experts were united, driven by a shared commitment to bring about meaningful change.

Tangible Benefits:

• Empowerment: Directly uplifting service users through enhanced processes.
• Efficiency: Streamlined operations, allowing the IWA team to focus on what truly matters.
• Collaboration: A team of facilitators emerged, each contributing their unique expertise and passion to the project.

Jo Dowdall’s Perspective:

For Catalyst Consultant Jo, this was an invigorating project. “Every process we refined, every efficiency we introduced, was a step towards a brighter future for the IWA community. Their dedication was a constant source of motivation.”

The IWA Narrative: Beyond the Surface

About IWA:

The Irish Wheelchair Association is more than an organisation; it is a community. Founded on the belief that everyone should be able to live a life of choice and equality, IWA supports over 20,000 members across Ireland. With 2,500 dedicated employees, 57 local community centres, and the backing of 2,000 volunteers, they provide services that empower people with physical disabilities to live independently, while also campaigning for equal rights and opportunities.

Catalyst’s Contribution:

Catalyst Consulting, respected for our expertise in strategic, operational, and assessment consultancy, brought a fresh perspective to the table. Our focus on business transformation, lean thinking, and process management was instrumental in helping IWA reshape its operational landscape. Together, we embarked on a journey to refine processes, foster collaboration, and pave the way for a technologically advanced future.

The Human Element:

Behind the numbers and processes were the stories of individuals. Jo shared the view “It’s a huge privilege to be working with an organisation so dedicated to its purpose. Each minute saved from a process, and each challenge removed from a team member will be turned it into magic”.

The Award Nomination: Insights and Outcomes

The Challenge:

IWA aimed to elevate their community’s experience. They faced fragmented information systems, intricate processes, and the challenge of standardising services across diverse regions.

The Solution:

The One IWA Programme was a transformative journey. It harmonised processes, introduced efficiencies, and ensured alignment with the community’s needs. The programme utilised continuous improvement tools and techniques, including process mapping and process challenge, raising awareness of the need for change within the organisation.

Measurable Outcomes:

• 10 facilitators trained.
• 37 workshops conducted.
• 39 processes meticulously reviewed and documented.
• 298 actionable improvements identified.
• Tangible time savings, bolstered efficiency, and enhanced service quality.

Conclusion:

The One IWA Programme is a testament to the benefits of genuine collaboration. By understanding challenges and opportunities at a grassroots level, fostering open communication, and focusing on tangible outcomes, the partnership between IWA and Catalyst Consulting has brought about real, lasting impact. The lessons learned from this partnership are clear: a deep understanding of challenges, combined with innovative solutions, leads to transformative results. As we anticipate the Learning in Excellence Awards, the programme stands as an example of how dedication and innovation can bring about positive change.

To discover more about the great work of Irish Wheelchair Association please go here:

https://www.iwa.ie/

We are proud to have partnered with IWA on this journey. If you have enjoyed reading this, and would like to learn more about working with us, please contact our CEO James Dwan jmd@catalystconsulting.co.uk for an initial conversation.

To grow yours and/or your organisation’s knowledge in this area, please find info on our Continuous Improvement training courses here https://lean-six-sigma.training/.

The post One IWA Programme: Collaboration, Change, and Real Impact appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

In Full: In a recent presentation, Matt shared insights into his journey, from working as a postman in the Royal Mail to becoming a distribution manager and now a successful Lean Master. He emphasised the importance of continuous improvement, adaptability, resilience, and inspiring others to embrace this approach to success in any field. Matt’s experiences have taught him that being a leader and earning people’s trust is more important than being a senior-level employee.

One of the key takeaways from Matt’s presentation was the need to tailor continuous improvement to different cultures and generations. It cannot be a “one size fits all” approach and requires a culture that is self-sustaining. Matt’s special tips include inspiring people by loving what you do, making continuous improvement a part of daily work, and creating advocates for continuous improvement. He believes in creating different and exciting learning programs to engage people, exploring unexplored areas and taking risks, and creating a safe space for people to fail and learn from their mistakes.

Matt emphasised the importance of continuous improvement and how it can be applied to any field to achieve success. His experiences have taught him the importance of adaptability, resilience, and creating a culture of self-sustaining continuous improvement. He believes that good management skills are essential to the success of any organization, and that trust is earned and not given.

As a charismatic Lean Master Matt has a track record of success in inspiring, leading, coaching, executing, developing, and sustaining continuous improvement cultures that deliver significant benefits in safety, quality, and cost.  Matt’s passion for continuous improvement is evident in his podcast, “The Ever-So-Lean Podcast” which serves as an ultimate guide to creating a culture of Lean Excellence. Matt shares his expertise and interviews inspiring guests who have embarked on their own development journeys; it is a must-listen for anyone interested in learning about Lean methodology and creating a culture of self-sustaining continuous improvement.

Matt Sims is a content creator and Lean Master with over 15 years of experience in Continuous Improvement. He hosts a podcast called “The Ever-So-Lean Podcast” that aims to inspire business owners and program managers to embrace Continuous Improvement. The Ever So Lean Podcast is Sponsored by Catalyst Consulting.

Discover more from Matt: https://ever-so-lean.podbean.com/

Start your team on their journey to continuous improvement with our LCS accredited Lean training programmes:

https://lean-six-sigma.training/lean-training

https://lean-six-sigma.training/lean-awareness

https://lean-six-sigma.training/lean-practitioner.

The post From Postman to Podcast Master: How Matt Sims Inspires a Culture of Lean Excellence appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

If you want similar insights, join our LinkedIn group:    https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12784667/

Solving Business Problems with ChatGPT

The full version: [Guess who helped us write this article? – answer at the end^*]

Are you looking for a new tool to help with problem-solving in your business? Look no further than ChatGPT! The Catalyst team recently had the opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of Open AI’s technology for process improvement, at one of our client networking events, and let me tell you, it was a blast!

First off, let me say that this technology is bleeding edge and still being explored by us. We’re always excited to learn more about what it can do, and we’re constantly discovering new applications. That’s why we wanted to do a demo of the technology for you!

In this video presentation, you’ll see first-hand how ChatGPT can be used as a team member to help with process improvement in a fun and interactive way. The presenters will walk you through a pizza simulation case study, demonstrating how ChatGPT can be leveraged to identify and solve complex problems, generate insights, and enhance customer satisfaction. Whether you’re a business professional, a process improvement enthusiast, or just curious about the latest AI technology, this video is sure to provide you with valuable insights and inspiration. So, grab a slice of pizza and join us on this exciting journey of discovery and innovation!

Defining the Problem

The first step in process improvement is to define the problem, and we’ve got plenty of those! We gathered Post-it notes from a training session where we brainstormed issues related to the pizza simulation. We’re treating ChatGPT like a team member because that’s what it is – a language model capable of summarising text and refining its summaries based on feedback. ChatGPT can help speed up the process of analysing data, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

We asked ChatGPT to provide an elevator pitch for the project, and it did not disappoint. But of course, we asked it to make the pitch even more exciting, because why settle for anything less? It’s important to note that ChatGPT can make mistakes, and that’s okay. We treat it as a fallible member of the team, just like we would with any other team member. We even compared ChatGPT to a mathematician and a calculator – it’s a powerful tool that can augment human capabilities.

Problem Solving From Data

Our demo then moves on to a bigger part of the problem; we want ChatGPT to analyse the data it has heard so far. As ChatGPT started to analyse the data, it quickly identified the root cause of the problem: issues with sequencing and cooking that led to delayed and unfulfilled orders. Our team was amazed at how quickly ChatGPT was able to identify the issue, but we knew that we needed to validate the results before moving forward. We talked about the importance of testing solutions before implementing them, and how ChatGPT could help in this process.

One of the most exciting aspects of ChatGPT is its ability to analyse feedback and identify areas for continuous improvement. Our team discussed how we could use ChatGPT to monitor progress, identify trends and patterns, and even forecast future problems. We also demonstrated how ChatGPT can be used to help businesses identify potential risks and opportunities in their business models and provide advice on how to address them. ChatGPT can even generate hypotheses and suggest experiments to test them, helping businesses identify potential revenue streams and cost structures.

Problem Solved!

Overall, the team was impressed by the capabilities of ChatGPT and its potential to revolutionise the way we approach problem solving and process improvement. We talked about how ChatGPT can help define a problem, suggest data to collect, analyse data and provide observations and deductions, identify the dominant root cause of a problem, provide advice on implementing changes, and even be used for cutting-edge business experiments. If you are a Lean Six Sigma practitioner you will really appreciate this kind of approach.

In conclusion, ChatGPT is a powerful tool that has the potential to augment human capabilities in a variety of ways. In Catalyst we are continuing to explore its potential and discovering new ways to use it to improve processes and solve problems. We encourage all professionals and those interested in agile, lean six sigma, and business process improvement to watch our presentation video and join us in this exciting journey. We feel it is so important that we are already upgrading our training courses to build the application of AI into our programmes.

Learn More about Business Problem Solving with ChatGPT

If you enjoyed this video and want to learn more about how ChatGPT can help you with problem-solving and process improvement, then join our LinkedIn group. We regularly post updates, case studies, and discussions related to agile, business process improvement, lean six sigma, kaizen, and more. Click the link below to join:

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12784667/

We also are planning to run a series of one day courses on how technology can enable  process improvement – please email us if you would like more details. info@catalystconsulting.co.uk

Thank you for watching, and we look forward to connecting with you on LinkedIn.

If you are interesting in learning more about any of the topics discussed here then please contact us at www.catalystconsulting.co.uk  or email us on info@catalystconsulting.co.uk .

^*This article was written by Martin Brenig-Jones with a lot of help from ChatGPT. Actually it would be more accurate to say this article was written by ChatGPT and then edited by Martin!

The post Revolutionising Business Process Improvement: Using ChatGPT as Your Secret Weapon appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

Fifty-four per cent of all entries came from quality professionals working internationally with entries from over 28 countries, including Canada, Germany, Italy, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and South Korea.

Catalyst’s Managing Director, Martin Brenig-Jones, announced the Award winners in the Quality Team of the Year Award category at the event.

Martin said: “It is an absolute privilege to have been involved in these awards as a sponsor company but also from a personal perspective as a judge and to present the award today. Teamworking is a very good fit for Catalyst, after all Quality is a team sport. Working together Quality Professionals can do amazing things as we have seen from the range of entrants for this award category. In Catalyst, we train and coach business improvement practitioners in continuous improvement and innovation techniques including lean six sigma. These approaches are best when practised in teams. Being a judge on this award category was particularly challenging – for a start we had the largest number of award entrants – nearly 40 !

My fellow judges – Niall Pembury from DNV GL and Estelle Clarke, CQI Executive Director and I worked hard to come up with the finalists. The range of entries was impressive, the quality of entries high. We selected 4 finalists and four notable entries.

The finalists were:

Quality Team, Crossrail, United Kingdom

The Quality team represents the entire Crossrail organisation, consisting of client, supply chain, Tier 1 Contractors and their suppliers. They consist of over 300 engineers and quality professionals who, for the past 10 years, in addition to ensuring that Crossrail is built technically correct, have led the industry with the aim of transforming construction quality forever

We liked the extensive quality system which Chris Titterton and his team have implemented across one of the largest construction projects ever. The work on inspection and test planning is truly excellent and I believe and hope that the learning from this team will positively influence future major construction projects in the future.

AZHD Quality Team, Al Zahra Hospital,

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Al Zahra Hospital is a tertiary 187-bed hospital providing a broad range of evidence-based high-quality services with focus on clinical outcome. The Quality Team consists of highly professional staff leading the quality and patient safety journey.

A small highly regarded quality team achieving very tangible, measurable results in clinical and non-clinical projects through a systematic team based approach with real focus on measurement.

Quality Team, Banaskantha District Co operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited, Banas Dairy, India

Banas Dairy is a cooperative dairy and, at present, procure 4.5 million litres of milk per day. More than 350 thousand farmers are associated with the company. They manufacture milk products under the brand “AMUL”, the largest dairy brand in India, and endeavour to provide a quality product to consumers.

Such an inspiration – to see the principles of Quality Management adopted in a comprehensive way throughout this organisation. Teamwork, co-operation, concern for the community – we can all learn from this case study – turning theory into practice. 

Business Improvement Team, Costain, United Kingdom

A small national team united by their role to enhance Costain’s performance through the application of three quality themes: risk based governance; consistency-based assurance; and behaviour based improvement. In short, supporting Costain’s development as a ‘technology-based solutions provider’ by ensuring all Costain people work “The Costain Way”.

This small team is having a big and positive impact across Costain. They have developed a clear strategy and are making it happen – introducing what they have christened the ‘Costain Way’ – I particularly liked the Business Improvement Assessment approach they have developed.

…. And the two winners were announced by Martin as –

Al Zahra Hospital Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Entered by Mervat Mansour)

For their evidence-based high-quality services that lead the quality and patient safety journey

and

Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd, India (Entered by Bipin Patel)

For their work in ensuring a quality product to their consumers, while managing more than 350 thousand farmers.

More details about all the award winners can be found here –

Awards https://www.quality.org/international-quality-awards

The post Catalyst Consulting Sponsors the Quality Team of the Year Award at the CQI’s Inaugural International Quality Awards appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

• Business Transformation in Ricoh and how Lean Six Sigma has been a key element of this programme across Europe.
• Deploying Lean Six Sigma in a central government agency – the Department of Communities and Local Government and how the approach is extending into wider deployment.
• Accelerating Transformation – Integrating Agile into Lean Six Sigma to accelerate change at the project and programme level.

It was a super event attended by many of Catalyst’s clients including Barclays, London Stock Exchange, Essex County Council, Bam Nuttall, Blue Bay, Sky TV, Arqiva, ONS, Freshfields, ESB and Keit.

The post All Of Us Are Smarter Than One Of Us appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

This year’s Awards Ceremony was hosted by The Apprentice’s Karren Brady CBE and held in The Ballroom of the prestigious InterContinental Hotel, Park Lane, London.

We are extremely proud of our clients Ricoh UK, CooperVision and Forensic Science Northern Ireland, who all won awards for their achievements across a range of business improvement and excellence categories.

We were also delighted to have been shortlisted as finalists for the Customer Satisfaction Award.

Representing Catalyst Consulting in this year’s UK Excellence Award Assessor Panel was Robert Row. Other organisations included GlaxoSmithKline, Siemens and the University of Portsmouth.

Below you can see the awards our clients won:

UK Excellence Award Winner – Ricoh UK

“Last year, the EFQM Excellence model helped us through some major business transformations…

We were delighted and proud to achieve 600+ points from BQF Assessors, viewing it as an indication that we were doing the right things…

From that point on, the Model became a tool to help us reassess what we want to do next“ – Mike Baddeley, Head of Business Excellence, Ricoh UK

Lean Six Sigma Award Winners

• CooperVision
• Forensic Science Northern Ireland
  

“We started working with Lean Six Sigma in 2010 and it has been an invaluable tool in identifying, analysing, measuring and resolving any issues…

Key to our success was empowering the team to improve their own performance.” – Elaine Marszall, CI Project Leader, CooperVision

“We now have 14 Green Belts and 54 Yellow Belts in a staff of 220. I think the methodology of Lean Six Sigma is perfect for scientists because it is data driven – there are no assumptions, just clear facts…

These are tough economic times, particularly in Northern Ireland, and we’re pleased to be able to offer a streamlined service that benefits the public purse.” – Lynette McHendry, Service Improvement Project Manager, Forensic Science Northern Ireland

It was a delight to attend the Ceremony and be surrounded by so many familiar faces.

We are excited for next year’s Awards and we look forward to working with The BQF and our clients in 2016.

[box]You can find out more about the winners and their great projects in The BQF’s special edition issue of their monthly magazine, UK Excellence. Read our highlights from the issue here.[/box]

The post 2015 UK Excellence Awards Ceremony appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

Catalyst Consulting would like to thank everyone who attended our 20th Anniversary Event at The Dorchester Hotel on 25th September 2015.

Our event, hosted at The Dorchester Hotel celebrated 20 years of Catalyst Consulting. Alongside presentations from Vince Grant, John Morgan and Richard May, we were delighted that our clients North Ayrshire Council (Winner of the 2015 Quality Scotland Lean Six Sigma Award), together with CooperVision, Ricoh and Forensic Science Northern Ireland, who are also shortlisted for this year’s BQF Lean Six Sigma Award, attended and presented at our event.

Courtesy of Ricoh’s Mike Baddeley, we also hosted a range of virtual reality technologies, such as Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard. Here you can see Martin Brenig-Jones trying out Google Cardboard.

As mentioned in one of our previous blogs, we showcased the advancements of 3D printing technology, exhibiting its potential with live printing sessions. We printed small, detailed ornaments to demonstrate the intricate detailing that can be achieved with 3D printing.

We were also excited to announce the launch of our brand new Lean Six Sigma Online Training courses, enabling users to conduct all the necessary training to become Lean Six Sigma practitioners virtually through our online service of over 950 ‘as-live’ training videos and modules.

The post 20th Anniversary Event appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

A Brazilian toucan who lost half her upper beak while being illegally trafficked has been given a bill created on a 3D printer! Tieta was rescued from an animal fair in Rio de Janeiro by a wildlife protection agency and taken to the Free Flight Institute, where vets worked with technicians to create a beak to allow her to eat properly.

One of the ‘features’ for our upcoming anniversary event will be a display of new technology items that will include a 3D Printer courtesy of our client Ricoh Europe. I’m not sure what we might be printing on the day, but it won’t be a toucan beak! Nevertheless, if you haven’t spotted this story in the press, I thought it made a pretty interesting item and it also reminded me of the old Guinness advert from probably around the time we founded Catalyst Consulting!

The new beak, which was modelled on one from a bird that had died, had to be light enough for the toucan to move freely, but resilient enough to allow her to eat fruit and insects.

20th Anniversary Event

We’re also getting excited about our forthcoming 20th anniversary event at The Dorchester Hotel, where both customers and suppliers will not only be able network with one another, but can also tune in to some excellent presentations, and debate new ways of working as we look to the future.

Among our speakers will be North Ayrshire Council, winners of the Quality Scotland Lean Six Sigma Award. Their winning project focused on the provision of Occupational Therapy Equipment. This important service was simply taking too long with average delivery over a month.

A DMAIC project sought ways to improve delivery times and enhance communication. Working through the DMAIC phases, and supported by their Chief Executive, they developed their Improvement Charter with clearly defined goals and success criteria. Mapping the existing process and collecting accurate data enabled them to see there were too many process steps resulting in the delays that slowed down delivery.
Working with operational staff, the improvement team identified and agreed a simpler and smoother process flow with outstanding results:

We’re also delighted to have presentations from three of this year’s shortlisted organisations for the BQF Lean Six Sigma Award, CooperVision, Ricoh and Forensic Science Northern Ireland. The UK Excellence Awards evening is on the 15th October and we’ll provide updates on the outcome, as well as some detail about our clients’ projects in the next newsletter.
Incidentally, we’re delighted that we’ve been shortlisted for the Customer Satisfaction Award, though we won’t be holding our breath!

The post Tieta the Toucan appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

We are also very pleased to announce that three of our clients have been shortlisted as finalists for the following award:

2015 Lean Six Sigma Award

• Coopervision
• Ricoh UK Limited
• Forensic Science Northern Ireland

The winner will be revealed at the UK Excellence Award Ceremony which will take place on Thursday 15 October 2015 at the InterContinental London Park Lane.

The post 2015 Excellence Awards appeared first on Catalyst Consulting.

The Scottish Award follows the framework of the British Quality Foundation’s Lean Six Sigma Award, where we have three of our clients as shortlisted finalists for their projects. We’ll be providing details of the who, what, and why in our next newsletter, along with further details of North Ayrshire’s success.

In general, the Projects entered could follow DMAIC, DMADV or PDCA frameworks with the judges looking for:

• Understanding of the problem being tackled including a clear problem and goal statement
• The right method has been used, be it DMAIC, DMADV or PDCA
• Application of the right Lean or Six Sigma tools at the right time in the right way
• Achievement of the benefits targeted and an effective control plan to ensure gains are secured

We’ll be providing more information about North Ayrshire’s success shortly, as well as updating you on the forthcoming U.K. Excellence Awards.

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